'Marvel Mutts': MacKenzie Cadenhead Calls in the Fantastic Four for Season 3

Throughout MARVEL MUTTS INFINITY COMIC (2023), Mittens, Lockjaw, Bats, Cosmo, and Lucky the Pizza Dog have fearlessly faced Flerkens and toyed with the Infinity Gauntlet, but they’re about to mark some new territory: the Baxter Building! In Season 3, which kicks off with MARVEL MUTTS INFINITY COMIC (2023) #13 on Marvel Unlimited, Ms. Marvel entrusts the Fantastic Four with care of the Mutts while she’s away on hero business. Under the supervision of Marvel’s First Family, the Mutts get up to their usual shenanigans, from begging for human food at a cookout to accidentally acquiring new super-powers.

Speaking to Marvel.com, MARVEL MUTTS writer MacKenzie Cadenhead previewed what’s in store for the Mutts as Season 3 gets underway on Marvel Unlimited. She explored the potential of the Baxter Building as a setting, with an eye on all the inventions in Mister Fantastic’s lab, and heaped praise on artist Enid Balam’s character acting and humor. She also teased a new super-power for Mittens, a special Lucky-centric story, an appearance by Jeff the Land Shark and other Infinity Comic stars, and so much more.

MARVEL.COM: Set the stage for us. What do readers need to know about MARVEL MUTTS INFINITY COMICS before they dive into Season 3?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: Season 3 is really fun, because the Mutts will be hanging out with a new family in the Marvel Universe. Years ago, I edited FRANKLIN RICHARDS: SON OF A GENIUS (2005), and I've just always had a soft spot for H.E.R.B.I.E. and the Fantastic Four. So this season our story picks up with Ms. Marvel out of town (fighting the good fight), and Johnny Storm dog sitting. The first half of our season takes place in the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four and H.E.R.B.I.E., and it's been so much fun to write.

MARVEL.COM: What did the Baxter Building enable you to do with the characters that perhaps you haven’t been able to do previously?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: It's really fun to see the Mutts in a different environment, interacting with different super-powers: in some cases, their own new powers and, of course, the powers of whoever they’re with. The environment I was most excited to play around in in Season 3 was Reed [Richards]'s lab. What damage can the Mutts do in Reed's lab? What will they discover? Obviously, hanging out with the Fantastic Four is timely, but getting to play in that sandbox with my favorite canine characters has been absolutely great.

MARVEL.COM: How did the Fantastic Four impact the Mutts’ dynamic?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: The Mutts are a pack, and a pack is essentially a family, just like the Fantastic Four. So getting to explore the mundane dynamics within a family was where the humor came in for me. 

I am a fan—particularly in the Friday Funnies world—of taking what would be a typical situation that I experience in my life and imagining how it would play out in the fantastical Marvel Universe. What is family dinner like for the Fantastic Four with the Mutts in the mix? Do the dogs want something that they shouldn't from the grill?

I know how I would handle that with my own dogs, but how does Sue Storm deal with it? How does Reed deal with it? Playing with their super-powers in this more domestic, slice of life way is where I found the humor. And having a partner in crime like Enid Balam meant I knew that humor would be expressed brilliantly in the visuals.

MARVEL.COM: Tell me a little more about what artist Enid Balam brought to MARVEL MUTTS Season 3.

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: When [editor] Mark Paniccia found out [artists] Takeshi Miyazawa was committed to another project and couldn’t do this season, we were beyond bummed. Tak created the cutest, sweetest visual world for the Mutts [in Seasons 1 and 2]. His art has so much heart. But thankfully, we had worked with another fantastic artist on canine-related Marvel hijinks, and so our buddy Enid Balam—who I did the DOGPOOL INFINITY COMIC with—has come on as the artist for MUTTS this time. And let me tell you, we’ve had stupid fun on this project. 

Knowing Enid's sense of humor and how he can convey that in his art was completely inspiring to write to. He draws dogs so well—their anatomy, their character acting in their bodies and expressions. He’s just so funny. It’s been a dream collaboration and I can’t wait for everyone to see his work on this.

MARVEL.COM: Typically, MARVEL MUTTS issues are each standalone stories. What can we expect in Season 3?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: While each individual Friday Funnies story is still self-contained, we thought it would be a fun challenge to link the stories by having each installment pick up directly where the previous one left off. So you’ll see that we give readers a hint of what's to come next week in the final panel of the story you’re reading. 

And, of course, there’s still a “Where’s Holly?” in every issue (which, for new readers, is where you have to find my other dog, Holly Jolly, hidden like Waldo in a panel of each story).

MARVEL.COM: MARVEL MUTTS Season 3 incorporates a lot more dialogue than previous seasons. How did that impact your experience writing the comic?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: In Season 1, we went with the decision that these would be pretty much silent stories, save for a few barks and sound effects. I've liked that and it makes a lot of sense for the format of vertical comics. 

But we’re three seasons in, and we have more human characters, AKA more characters that speak, and it felt organic to give them a voice. We did that a little in DOGPOOL, and it felt easy to do it here. The key is not to write too much! But there was also no way I could write H.E.R.B.I.E. without writing dialogue for him, because the way he expresses his exasperation is so fun.

MARVEL.COM: The Fantastic Four aren’t the only characters the Mutts encounter in Season 3. Who else might we run into along the way?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: I will say there have been other characters that I've written in the last year for Marvel that were very fun to write. And you just start to think, "How would this guy interact with Mittens," for example. (Plug for DOOM ACADEMY!) 

But also, there tends to be two types of stories I write for MUTTS. The first is a real-time, beginning, middle, and end snapshot narrative. The other is a vignette story, where we jump around to other moments and locations in the Marvel Universe. 

In the vignette stories, in particular, one of my favorite things is to just grab some random characters that either I want to see Enid draw or that I think would have a funny dynamic with the Mutts, and imagine what the interaction would be in the scenario that we've set up. So we’ve got some of that to look forward to this season.

There's also another story that incorporates other favorite characters from the Friday Funnies (cough—JEFF!—cough). I won't give away the why, but we had a cool idea of how to bring them together. It’s really finding excuses to write characters I think would be funny interacting with the Mutts.

MARVEL.COM: Mittens, our protagonist, undergoes a bit of a transformation this season. What can you tell us about that?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: So Mittens is our little non-powered dog. But given who she hangs out with, and as is often the case with small dogs, she has the confidence of a super-powered large dog. So I started to wonder what would Mittens’ super-power be if she had one.

In playing around in the Baxter Building, I knew that I wanted a story that would take advantage of Reed's lab. Without giving everything away, let's just say that Mittens stumbles upon something that maybe changes her powered status for a time. What that power becomes is a very Mittens power, and she uses it to fight crime in a constructive way.

MARVEL.COM: What is your favorite moment from Season 3?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: It's probably getting to bring together the different Friday Funnies characters in Lucky's story. That was a treat! Also, I love taking a character that we've become more familiar with in a supporting role and shining the spotlight on them. We did it with Cosmo last season, and it’s Lucky’s time to shine now.

MARVEL.COM: What are you most excited for readers to see in Season 3?

MACKENZIE CADENHEAD: Enid's art. He’s just so funny. There’s often a wink and a nudge in his storytelling. I really think people are going to enjoy it—all people, but particularly dog lovers.

And I’m excited for everyone to see Mittens’ super-power, and H.E.R.B.I.E., and the Friday Funnies team up, and everything!

MARVEL MUTTS INFINITY COMIC (2023) #13 is available to read now on Marvel Unlimited!

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